Detection of High-risk Human Papillomavirus Types 16 and 18 but not 33 and 52 in External Genital Warts from Iranian Females

Background: External genital warts (EGW) are relatively common sexually transmitted diseases. In themajority of cases, low-risk human papilomaviruses (HPV), such as HPV-6 and HPV-11, are responsible but,high-risk types may also be detected and this has a bearing on vaccines for cervical cancer prevention. In thisstudy the incidence of the high-risk HPV types 16, 18, 33 and 52 in EGWs of females from the southwest of Iranwas assessed.
Methods: Seventy-nine women with EGWs participated in this study. Quantitative real-time PCRwith gene specific primers and probes for the E6 gene of HPV-16, 18, 33 and 52, were used for the detection ofHPV DNA in the tissue and blood samples.
Results: Of the 79 tissue specimens, 13 (16.5%) were HPV positive,only genetic materials of HPV-16 and HPV-18 being detected, twelve patients (15.2%) were positive only forHPV-18 and the coexistence of HPV-16 and HPV-18 was shown in one patient. Only one plasma sample showedevidence of HPV-16 with very low viral load.
Conclusion: Our data showed that high-risk HPV types can befound in the tissue specimens of EGW samples obtained from female patients in the Southwest of Iran, withHPV-18 as the most abundant type; however, additional studies with a larger population are required to provethe finding and help to determine the most appropriate type of virus for vaccine design for Iranian women.